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BMW ConnectedDrive outage & connected car app disasters

BMWappreviewsAfter our article, yesterday, explaining that BMW’s web/mobile interface has vulnerabilities that could be hacked, a few hours later BMW’s web portal was reported down. A BMW i3 owner in the UK reported that he has been unable to register for BMW’s ConnectedDrive service since July 19, continually receiving error messages. The outage is due to a system update in the UK and Europe. In the meantime BMW’s apps on Google Play have some of the worst user reviews, we’ve seen.

Tesla to offer “affordable” adorable Tesla 3 for $35K

tesladashTelsa may soon be entering the realm of “affordable” cars in the price range of high end Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf but with 200 miles of driving on a charge.

The Tesla Model 3 will start at $35,000 in 2017. IT will be a smaller version of the Tesla S with similar distance and battery options.  First Tesla will make the Model X SUV with gull wing doors due out later this year.

Los Angeles parking app challenge from Ford asks devs to recreate parking lots

losangelesemptyparkinglotDevelopers could win as much as $15,000 for finding new exciting creative uses for Los Angeles’ vast parking space surplus and quagmire of problems.

Los Angeles has a parking problem even though  it has the highest density of parking spaces in the world. It’s downtown contains more spaces per acre than any other city. However finding a parking spot can still be difficult and stressful.  L.A. also has a mountain-size surplus because lots are built for prime times and often vacant.

Average age of car 11.4 years and fewer scrapped yearly

2002_honda_civic_coupe_0The combined average age of all light vehicles on the road in the U.S. stayed at at 11.4 years, as of Jan. 1 2014, reported IHS Automotive. It is the oldest cars have stayed since 1995, when the data was first reported.

In 2003, there were cell phones but no iPhones or Android phones.  The older the car, the less connected it will be.  There appears to big market for head units and other connected car features for older model cars. Most people keep their cars an average of six years.

AUPEO! opens in Motown

AUPEO! opened a new office Farmington Hills, Michigan, near Detroit. The opening comes a year after AUPEO! was bought by Panasonic Corporation of North America.

Your soda can and water may power the next long range EVs

Alcoa_Phinergy_02_largePhinergy and Alcoa demoed a zero-emissions electric demo car powered with lithium ion batters with supplemental power from an aluminum-air battery at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal during the Canadian International Aluminum Conference last week (June 3-4).

New Fords made from tomato ketchup for greener future

ford-heinz-sustainabilityResearchers at Ford and Heinz are researching the use of tomato fibers to make sustainable, composite materials for use in carmaking.

Ford researchers are testing the composite for use in wiring brackets, upholstery, and storage bins such as the kind a customer uses to hold coins and other small objects.